Marty,

My boys and I love to play in our Jackson boats.

Alex my 6 year old hops into my Super Star and races in an out of the sea kayak log jam like he owns the place. As a father, it is great so see how quickly his skills are developing. In the Super Star, Alex has the confidence and ability to seal launch, seal land, surf waves. Last season, Alex even retrieved his 4 year old brother Conrad who, while swimming in his lifejacket for and extended period of time, wore himself out. Alex paddled out toward his brother, pulled up right next to him, stood up, grabbed Conrad’s shoulder straps, pulled him in over the stern and paddled home with him. My wife Lisa, my parents and I watched proudly from the dock lamenting the fact that our cameras were up in the house.

My boys and I use the Journey 14 as a platform for water play. The boat is extremely stable and buoyant and has no rough edges to get caught or injured on. The boys clamber up and down the length of the deck and hull (depending on what side is up). They stand up and go for rides while I’m paddling. Alex my oldest even stands up and paddles the boat around on his own now. We play all sorts games on the boat. My oldest is trying to perfect his log rolling skills. As I roll the boat, he tries to climb around the back deck and hull keeping his head dry. He can’t quite get it yet but loves trying. In another game, I’ll sit or stand on the back deck of the Journey and bounce up and down trying to shake one of the boys off of the bow like they are riding an angry water horse. My eldest’s favorite game is riding on the front or back deck as I perform roll after roll. Towards the end of a recent pool session my oldest got a bit tired and relaxed on the bow as I sat or paddled him around from the back deck. If the session were ½ an hour longer he may have fallen asleep. Alex used to sleep in the front cockpit of my tandem kayak as a toddler so a bow nap on the Journey is a real possibility. ;o)

The Journey is tough. I am 240lbs and climb all over the boat. The deck rigging makes all sorts of fun possible. You can securely hang onto this boat from any position. I can stow paddles numerous ways to enable any sort of activity we are engaging in. The boat is short and maneuverable enough to play safely in even a crowded pool session. The boat is plastic, smooth and rounded so others don’t get too nervous if my rudderless Journey comes into close proximity to there $3000 dollar composite sea kayaks. During these pool sessions, the hatches and hull endure significant stress and abuse while above and below water. In my experience my hatches remain as dry as those of top end sea kayaks. My family and I are enjoying the heck out of this boat. Thanks for making such nice products.

Sincerely,

Jon Tobiassen

Paddling Enthusiast